From Adversity to Advantage

As a student of history, and military history in particular,
I have always been impressed with the ability
of famous leaders to seemingly bounce back from
just about any difficulty or adversity. This is
also true in the fields of sports, politics and
business. In some ways, great leaders are also
great survivors. They often thrive on chaos and
adversity. No adversity seems too great to prevent
them from finding some advantage. While I certainly
don’t believe in deliberately creating difficulty,
there are nonetheless some principles that you
can apply to turn adversity to your advantage.

Keep things in perspective. Things are rarely
so bad – or so good for that matter –
as they appear initially. I’m not talking
about tragedy and death, but rather the day-to-day
mundane events that seem to create setbacks for
mere mortals but that great leaders thrive on.
If you are facing adversity it is probably because
you are pushing yourself and your organization
to achieve greater goals. This is a good thing.

Keep the big picture in view. The military has
institutionalized this idea by giving every commander
at every level a second-in-command. This way,
the commander can focus on leading the troops
and keeping his eye on the enemy and the evolving
situation, while the deputy takes care of administrative
manners and the “rear area”. How many
civilian organizations do this? My assessment
is not many, and they would surely be more effective
and, yes, even more efficient if they did so.
An added benefit is that the deputy can replace
the boss in some circumstances, thereby giving
a chance for much needed rest and recuperation
during difficult times.

Stay calm and don’t overreact. When I
was on the staff of the Royal Military College
of Canada, one of my colleagues was a naval officer.
One of his favourite principles of leadership
was expressed thus: “The sailors get nervous
when their officers start running.” This
is a very succinct way to say that leaders should
project calm and resolve no matter what the situation;
lest they unnerve those they are leading. Judging
by his demeanour, I think my friend had learned
the value of that principle first hand. I certainly
did as a young military officer.

Build on core values and beliefs. U.S. airline
JetBlue had a major crisis in February 2007 when
operating management made poor decisions about
how to manage flights and passenger relations
during a major ice storm on the Eastern seaboard.
David G. Neeleman, the founder and CEO of the
airline, apologized to the airline’s customers
and promised to compensate them in the future
for the same type of incident. Up to then, the
low-cost airline had had a reputation for excellent
customer service and Neeleman didn’t want
to jeopardize that. He has created a “Passenger
Bill of Rights” that promises to compensate
passengers for such inconveniences in the future
and company employees were mobilized en masse
afterwards to contact passengers inconvenienced
by the debacle. This kind of leadership by the
CEO could only come about because Neeleman focused
on the core values and beliefs of the company
and took them seriously. Only time will tell if
JetBlue can recover from the crisis, but at least
the company has a roadmap with its core values
and principles as signposts.

When in doubt, go with your gut. My observation
of dozens of senior military officers and other
high-level leaders is that they all trust their
instincts and are highly intuitive decision-makers.
When all is said and done, reason can only take
you so far in your decision-making. Information
is never perfect in any case, especially when
faced with adversity. Intuition is simply an inner
knowing that comes from years of practice and
reflection on a particular subject. Great leaders
usually have well developed intuition because
they have so much experience and are used to considering
the emotional aspects of a problem in their decision-making.
Even more important though, is that they listen
to the little voice that tells them that something
is wrong or is good and they act on it.

Build on lucky breaks. Uber-consultant Alan
Weiss says it is sometimes better to be lucky
than good. I have found this to be very true.
When I was commanding a peacekeeping force in
Bosnia, I sometimes had my troops set up vehicle
check points to control movement and to check
for illegal weapons and smuggling. One day, we
set up some check points and the UN resident envoy
congratulated me for my excellent use of a decoy
tactic to quell an incipient demonstration by
local military personnel, which could easily have
turned into rioting and looting. His information
network had obviously tweaked him to something
I had been unaware of. I let him and everyone
else in my area of responsibility believe that
my tactic was intentional. That lucky stroke contributed
to our credibility by sowing the idea that we
knew everything that was happening in the area.
Afterwards, representatives of the international
community were also more forthcoming in providing
us with information because they believed we would
act on it to keep the civil peace.

Communicate and lead with emotion. In May 1940,
Britain faced its most trying circumstances of
the Second World War. Winston Churchill gave an
address to the nation. His words? “I have
nothing to offer but blood, sweat, toil and tears.”
In a series of stirring speeches over the weeks
and months of that difficult summer, he appealed
to the emotions of Britons and rallied them using
the values and beliefs they held dear as a people.
He didn’t sugar-coat the situation and because
of that he was able to create an overarching sense
of purpose and mission to their struggle. Had
he simply listed the balance of forces it might
have demoralized the people. Instead he made them
truly believe that Britain was a beacon of hope
and right for the oppressed peoples of Europe
and that they would come to their defence.

Reinforce success and build on strengths. In
war and in other adversarial endeavours such as
sports and politics, victory can only come from
relentlessly using one’s strengths against
the opponent’s weaknesses. No country ever
won a war by focusing on defence. No sports team
ever won a championship by focusing on their own
weaknesses. No politician ever won office by admitting
to his or her weaknesses. We may not like that,
but that’s the way the world works. You
may think I’m only looking at adversarial
situations, but the same principle applies to
business and economics. Peter Drucker is widely
credited with the concept that managers should
build on strengths rather than constantly attempting
to correct weaknesses. He believed and taught
this over many decades but many managers still
focus on the negative side of life rather than
the positive side. In economic terms, this is
known as comparative advantage and it is the fundamental
logic underpinning international commerce and
free trade.

As a manager and a leader, the next time you are
faced with a difficult situation, make a commitment
to apply these principles. Even if you can’t
do it well the first time, persistence will pay
off. It will allow you to build resilience in
yourself and your organization, and it will also
contribute to making you a much more inspiring
and effective leader.